The news this morning following that of 5 days ago certainly helps. Nevertheless there has been a 90+ day lull in "material" announcements. My hope is that the back log kept the production line and shipping dock busy in that time frame. I did read over on IV site that the production facility was shut down for a week in December, but have no confirmation of that. Q3 still looms and will tell the tale if now is/was a good time to buy or not.
While the link to the FT article I posted early this morning is dead there are of course plenty of sites that picked it up. It appeared in the mainstream news when I saw it so suspect many saw it and perhaps took a look as most always a space shot is of interest to many. My warm take away on the article is that the State of North Dakota is "considering" legislation that would encourage flare reduction through tax breaks. Can you imagine how many Capstone Turbines could be sold if a tax incentive (subsidy) was enacted?
Google up "gas flaring seen from space" and you'll find that The U.S. is now the fifth worst country for flaring, behind Russia, Nigeria, Iran and Iraq.
Not only is this an ecological disaster but also a complete waste of a natural resource. The Financial Times reports that fracking companies in the U.S. are burning off enough gas to power all the homes in Chicago and Washington “in a practice causing growing concern about the waste of resources and damage to the environment.”
The volume of flaring in North Dakota, the leading state in the shale oil revolution increased by a whopping 50 percent last year. The Balken field in the state is now responsible for 10 percent of total U.S. output but, because the state is remote, pipeline connections have failed to keep pace.
It all boils down to basic crude economics: “I’ll tell you why people flare: It’s cheap,” argues Troy Anderson, the lead operator of a North Dakota gas-processing plant. “Pipelines are expensive: You have to maintain them. You need permits to build them. They are a pain.”
An analysis by the Financial Times on the state of North Dakota reveals that due to the flaring, greenhouse gas emissions are 20 percent above the U.S. average.
The oil industry is using the same argument that it did in Nigeria—its cheaper to flare off gas than build expensive pipelines to harness it. Ironically, the industry is arguing that it’s the cheap price of gas in the U.S. that means that harnessing the gas is uneconomic. ecowatch.org
What with the recent temperature inversion in Salt Lake City and polluted air elsewhere I think this practice will have to be reduced one way or another.
Whatever the reason for todays price action...its all good. Most of the day was about as flat-lined as I've seen but something lit a fire just prior to 3:00 that set off the move upward. Who knows? More good news tomorrow?
